New Year, Who this?

NYE used to be my favorite holiday. In your 20’s — well, maybe not in your 20’s, but in my 20’s — any opportunity to reinvent myself on purpose was welcome, especially if it let me stay up late and wear a suit I got at a thrift store. I had pretty cool cufflinks, with dragons on them.

Especially in Portland, the new year can feel less reinvention and more holding on for dear life. It’s dark, and people are holding on until they see the sunshine again. And if that’s how the adults of the world feel, those of us with (theoretically) developed frontal lobes, imagine how it must feel for all the kids returning to school after holiday break.

It’s a well-known truism in the education world that students typically become more activated the weeks leading up to a major break from schooling. The excitement about change, about time off, and presents, can make students extra wiggly no matter what grade they’re in. For students who benefit from the structure of schooling — even kids who say they hate school often feel comfortable having a consistent, predictable world surrounding them — the prospect of entering an unstructured time can feel stressful, which can then lead to unpredictable behaviors. Then, upon returning to school, some kiddos hit the ground running and ready to go. Others, who have spent the season getting deeper into their personal world that doesn’t run on the same lines as a school day, need some version of a grace period to get their sea legs back.

So as we collectively exit the sort-of-death-march of the holiday season and re-enter the sort-of-death-march of school obligations, if it’s clear that someone you know seems a little stuck in molasses trying to get back into the routine, consider some different approaches to encouraging them to get back in the swing of things. It’s ok to have expectations, and it’s ok that the kiddos are uncomfortable — that’s part of working with kiddos — but maybe get them an ice cream or something this week and listen to them complain about how tired they are for a bit. Have them reflect on how well they’re doing with a rough transition. And then maybe moan a little bit yourself about how hard winter in the Pacific Northwest can be, what with the sun not rising until like 11 am and it hovering around 37* but never really snowing and and and…

Or is that just me?